Beyond Wifi Exorbitently High

[NutsAboutGolf]

10 minutes ago, Ethanol95 said:

1. I'm Elite status

2. Nope, booked through an Interline TA, so didn't see the options displayed. 

 

Yea guess i'll just have to swallow it down.

You do receive an Elite 30% off discount but you have to call the capt club to receive both status and pre-sail stacked discount and not reg X at 1 (800) 760-0654.  However, I don’t know if you can buy it yourself or if your TA has to.  I’d recommend just calling yourself

Edited March 1, 2023 by NutsAboutGolf

[Charles4515]

34 minutes ago, Ethanol95 said:

2. Nope, booked through an Interline TA, so didn't see the options displayed. 

 

I hope you compared Interline with non interline fares. Years ago when I could nget them about 70% of the time I could get a better fare non interline.

 

As to why Celebrity internet is high, it is higher tax other cruise lines it is because they want you to book the all included packages. 

[TeeRick]

1 hour ago, Ethanol95 said:

what about in the atrium and in public areas of the ship?

I found it to be very good in the public areas too.

[jean87510]

3 hours ago, Ethanol95 said:

1. I'm Elite status

2. Nope, booked through an Interline TA, so didn't see the options displayed. 

 

Yea guess i'll just have to swallow it down.

Well try calling to at least apply the Elite discount.  I did that.  It would be at least $100.

[Ethanol95]

7 hours ago, jean87510 said:

Well try calling to at least apply the Elite discount.  I did that.  It would be at least $100.

Do they not recognise it if I wait until embarking the ship and buying the package on that day instead? 

[Bo1953]

1 hour ago, Ethanol95 said:

Do they not recognise it if I wait until embarking the ship and buying the package on that day instead? 

No, it must be purchased no less than 48 hours before the sailing.

 

bon voyage

Edited March 2, 2023 by Bo1953

[Ethanol95]

40 minutes ago, Bo1953 said:

No, it must be purchased no less than 48 hours before the sailing.

 

bon voyage

Is there an international i can call from Singapore?

[Bo1953]

7 hours ago, Ethanol95 said:

Is there an international i can call from Singapore?

e95 the best I could find (for now):

 

Australia Phone 1800 003 002

New Zealand Phone: 0800 445 885

Email Address-Pre-departure: ReservationsAU@celebrity.com

 

I have to speak with X later this morning and will ask if there is another number to call.

 

The only other option I can think of in the meantime is, you can possibly log into your CP (cruise planner) and there should be contact information for Singapore there...

 

Please remember that while you are calling from Singapore, the call in center may be in a different country handling the region.

 

I will do my best to get some additional information for you today and post back.

 

bon voyage

[Hlitner]

On 2/28/2023 at 6:42 AM, Ethanol95 said:

Okay this was my concern as i'll need to do video calls as well. I'm hoping the internet comes through for me. 

Internet service on any ship (and line) is never dependable.  We have been on some long cruises where we had decent Internet nearly everyday.  And we have been on cruises where e-mail was really slow, video (i.e. Zoom, Facetime) never worked, and the system was down for 2-3 days at a time.  If good Internet is vital, than you should consider something other than an ocean cruise.  If you are counting on full bandwidth I think you will be very disappointed.

 

If your itinerary is port intensive than do as we do and primarily rely on land-based cell connections (when in or near ports).  

[Bo1953]

5 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Internet service on any ship (and line) is never dependable.  We have been on some long cruises where we had decent Internet nearly everyday.  And we have been on cruises where e-mail was really slow, video (i.e. Zoom, Facetime) never worked, and the system was down for 2-3 days at a time.  If good Internet is vital, than you should consider something other than an ocean cruise.  If you are counting on full bandwidth I think you will be very disappointed.

 

If your itinerary is port intensive than do as we do and primarily rely on land-based cell connections (when in or near ports).  

h - a main reason for this specific sailing and ship is work related, as such, no other option but to try and get the best connection possible.

 

I Am sure while the employer may be disappointed, yet they understand (and possibly already knows) that internet on ships can be and is sketchy, often. Just make best efforts to connect smoothly and continually.

 

Added to the challenge, is that the employer does not pay for internet.

 

bon voyage

[NutsAboutGolf]

4 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Internet service on any ship (and line) is never dependable.  We have been on some long cruises where we had decent Internet nearly everyday.  And we have been on cruises where e-mail was really slow, video (i.e. Zoom, Facetime) never worked, and the system was down for 2-3 days at a time.  If good Internet is vital, than you should consider something other than an ocean cruise.  If you are counting on full bandwidth I think you will be very disappointed.

 

If your itinerary is port intensive than do as we do and primarily rely on land-based cell connections (when in or near ports).  

 

100%.  I tell people this, if in the middle of your video call, the internet goes down and you cannot get back on for an hour, will you suffer any consequences?  Generally speaking, if you need an hour long video call to share your screen/present to close a big deal, reschedule it.  If you just need to listen to someone else present you should be okay assuming you have a plan if the wifi goes down

 

I do MS Teams calls all the time, even with Starlink it's never been perfect and will do the "reconnect" thing a few times

[NutsAboutGolf]

9 minutes ago, Bo1953 said:

h - a main reason for this specific sailing and ship is work related, as such, no other option but to try and get the best connection possible.

 

I Am sure while the employer may be disappointed, yet they understand (and possibly already knows) that internet on ships can be and is sketchy, often. Just make best efforts to connect smoothly and continually.

 

Added to the challenge, is that the employer does not pay for internet.

 

bon voyage

 

For some of us, we do not want to openly advertise where on vacation, whether that's a cruise, a Mexican AI resort or even a strip hotel in Vegas, sharing your vacation details causes more harm than good for most.  If you're outrighted asked you should answer truthfully however, you can be vague while still being truthful...One example of this: "I've been having wifi issues all day today <or all week>"

[PTC DAWG]

I would assume that any employer who allows you to work remotely expects you to have “land based broadband” or the equivalent..a cruise ship is not that place.  Thankfully.  People are way too close together to have everyone on a zoom call. 
 

IF I had an employee that was not taking vacation days trying to work from a cruise ship, the first internet issue would raise flags with me. They are rare in a land based situation, and most have a cell phone that serve as a back up with the data plans offered today. My iPhone will stream to my tv in the rare occurrence the home internet is down, try that on a cruise ship at sea when the ship internet goes down. 

Edited March 2, 2023 by PTC DAWG

[Bo1953]

14 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

For some of us, we do not want to openly advertise where on vacation, whether that's a cruise, a Mexican AI resort or even a strip hotel in Vegas, sharing your vacation details causes more harm than good for most.  If you're outrighted asked you should answer truthfully however, you can be vague while still being truthful...One example of this: "I've been having wifi issues all day today <or all week>"

nag - very true, yet it is the employer who is sending their employee on this sailing...

 

As such, they know where the employee is and even which cabin.

 

Were this a 'private' vacation your thoughts work well...

 

bon voyage

[PTC DAWG]

3 minutes ago, Bo1953 said:

nag - very true, yet it is the employer who is sending their employee on this sailing...

 

As such, they know where the employee is and even which cabin.

 

Were this a 'private' vacation your thoughts work well...

 

bon voyage

This case is different than most for sure 

[Ethanol95]

Yes my employer knows but can't cover. We have to cover the ship to a live audience given the internet holds.

[lorimay]

1 hour ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

100%.  I tell people this, if in the middle of your video call, the internet goes down and you cannot get back on for an hour, will you suffer any consequences?  Generally speaking, if you need an hour long video call to share your screen/present to close a big deal, reschedule it.  If you just need to listen to someone else present you should be okay assuming you have a plan if the wifi goes down

 

I do MS Teams calls all the time, even with Starlink it's never been perfect and will do the "reconnect" thing a few times

I did a two hour zoom call last week from my cabin on the Equinox with Starlink internet service and did not have any issues with the quality of the video or the audio. Did a transatlantic on the Beyond last fall, again with Starlink, and had very good service, including zoom calls, except when we were in the very middle of the Atlantic.

 

I know there is never a guarantee, but internet service has been very good for me on these cruises.

 

You might want to consider that your issue with MS Teams is just because it's MS Teams 😀

[NutsAboutGolf]

3 minutes ago, lorimay said:

I did a two hour zoom call last week from my cabin on the Equinox with Starlink internet service and did not have any issues with the quality of the video or the audio. Did a transatlantic on the Beyond last fall, again with Starlink, and had very good service, including zoom calls, except when we were in the very middle of the Atlantic.

 

I know there is never a guarantee, but internet service has been very good for me on these cruises.

 

You might want to consider that your issue with MS Teams is just because it's MS Teams 😀

 

It was on the Solstice (twice) which has starlink but for whatever reason seems to be greatly throttled down.  On the Solstice, during business hours with Premium the up and down mbps was about 2 (before star link it was about .5).  I've seen speed tests of 25mbps on the Beyond.  Therefore it does appear that it can vary by ship

[Ethanol95]

Does anyone know if you have OBC does it show up in the top right of your account like Royal whilst in the cruise planner page? 

[Ken the cruiser]

2 minutes ago, Ethanol95 said:

Does anyone know if you have OBC does it show up in the top right of your account like Royal whilst in the cruise planner page? 

Yes, it provides a running total of how much you have left to spend if you haven't used it all up yet.

[Ken the cruiser]

On 3/2/2023 at 10:09 AM, lorimay said:

I did a two hour zoom call last week from my cabin on the Equinox with Starlink internet service and did not have any issues with the quality of the video or the audio. Did a transatlantic on the Beyond last fall, again with Starlink, and had very good service, including zoom calls, except when we were in the very middle of the Atlantic.

 

I know there is never a guarantee, but internet service has been very good for me on these cruises.

 

You might want to consider that your issue with MS Teams is just because it's MS Teams 😀

If I might ask, were you using the Basic or Premium Internet package?

[Ethanol95]

6 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Yes, it provides a running total of how much you have left to spend if you haven't used it all up yet.

That's odd i have nothing showing, thought I had been given $100 for Shareholder benefit 

[Ken the cruiser]

14 minutes ago, Ethanol95 said:

That's odd i have nothing showing, thought I had been given $100 for Shareholder benefit 

Here's an example of what it looks like:

 

 

Edited March 30, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[lorimay]

3 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

If I might ask, were you using the Basic or Premium Internet package?

I had the premium wifi package. I was on the Edge last week, also with the premium package, and the internet was not nearly as good. I was able to do zoom and meet calls but there was buffering. 

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, lorimay said:

I had the premium wifi package. I was on the Edge last week, also with the premium package, and the internet was not nearly as good. I was able to do zoom and meet calls but there was buffering. 

Thanks! That’s what I kind of figured. We’ve found on the eleven X cruises we’ve been on since cruising started back up, we’ve always had to upgrade to Premium to even have a chance of getting 2+ mbps download speeds, and all I wanted to do is something crazy like post text and photos to my CC Live From threads. 😂

 

For us it’s just an automatic thing to upgrade to Premium as we no longer book suites where we automatically would get it as one of the perks. We’re getting ready to go on a 33-day B3B on the Eclipse in a few weeks which will be the first ship we’ll be on that will have implemented Starlink. But from everything I’ve read on CC, I will still need to upgrade to Premium so I can post stuff to my Live From thread. I can’t even imagine the stress working folks have to go through, especially if they are having to work remotely via the internet while using just the Basic internet service.

Edited March 31, 2023 by Ken the cruiser